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Entirely unrelated to the 'Things I'd like the bike industry to stop doing now' post, I swear.
After being very methodical in removing and refitting internally routed gear cables on my road bike, I then stupidly whisked the rear brake cable out forgetting that to install it the manufacturer had kindly provided a pre-installed sheath which I had removed 😭
So I have two very small holes and a length of top tube to navigate. I'm not sure how those magnetic tools work, they seem to employ little magnetic barbs which attach to the cable end, but they look too big to pass through the holes in the frame (which serve as stops for the outers, e.g. smaller diameter than the outer). And frankly I'd rather do it this evening/weekend rather than wait for a new tool to arrive.
Does the 'hoovering a thread through' technique actually work? I guess I could tape a nozzle from our Dyson to the one port and try hoover a thread through from the other...
Will also try the lassoo technique but given the size of the ports I would need to pass the lassoo through and then pull the cable back through I doubt this will work.
All this trouble just to install some second hand, internally routed aero handlebars for mainly bling purposes! 😆
You got a craft shop near you? I used modelling wire to do my old STS when this happened. It's narrow but stiff enough to straighten out and pass though both holes, kind of like a straightening a giant paper clip.
Also, how close is the front hole to the headset? On another frame, I found if you remove the forks, there is enough of a hole in the head tube/top tube junction to get your fingers in either feed a cut cable from the other end and out the hole, or in you case, feed through the sheath.
I had a Ti hardtail with beautiful ports...but so tiny they barely fitted anything but a brake hose. I spent many hours trying to route cables and hoses with tape, string, wire etc.
The magnetic tool arrived and my wife finally let me (the very sweary man) back in the house.
Patience.
Did the magnetic tool fit through the cable port? These ports protrude into the top tube so the inside 'entry' into the port sits well proud of the inner surface of the top tube, I think just using a magnet to drag the cable along the inside of the tube wouldn't work...
Fishing with the j bend of a spoke is the usual method du jour sans magnet. Works on my propel and I’m about to do the same - moving to etap red wireless and swapping brake cable outer to grey to match the frame decals. All about the look of course. And a carbon set of 3T aeronova bars I bought too!
Also, how close is the front hole to the headset? On another frame, I found if you remove the forks, there is enough of a hole in the head tube/top tube junction to get your fingers in either feed a cut cable from the other end and out the hole, or in you case, feed through the sheath.
Clubby for the win! The headtube wasn't close enough for me to feed the cable from there, but what I COULD do was feed some sheath through the port closest to the headtube, then fish around with a bent spoke to hook this sheath and pull it back on itself and out the headtube again. I could then feed a second run of sheath from the port closest to the seat tube and out of the headtube. Having done this I could run a gear cable from one sheath to the other, pull it all taut and hey presto, a gear cable through the top tube.
Of course at this point I realised I had used gear cable and gear cable sheath, but was able to run a section of BRAKE cable sheath along the gear cable now in place. At this point I very carefully stepped away from the bike and came inside to calm down and de-escalate. Will try and finish the job this evening 😆
I would curse internal routing more roundly but in truth I didn't need to change cables (on THIS bike) as it's a summer only road bike, could probably get several years out of a set of cables, so the approx 3 hours I've spent on this task so far doesn't look so bad 🙄
And a carbon set of 3T aeronova bars I bought too!
We probably need to start a support group. My Easton EC70s were dirt cheap second hand, but I'm already realising they don't work with Ultegra shifters as the cable outers are spaced too far apart when they leave the shift and can't transition to the single port on the handlebars 😭 I'm going to end up somehow affixing the gear cable to the underside of flat tops of the bars. Probably ruins whatever negligible aero benefits there might have been but hey, I still get exposed carbon flat tops with a big Easton logo, and 50 grams weight saving! 🤣
You don't half suffer in your pursuit of bike tartness 🙂
You don't half suffer in your pursuit of bike tartness 🙂
🤣
I'll recoup all this time and investment at a rate of approx 1 second per weekly 10 mile TT thanks to my shiny waxed chain and very marginally more aero handlebars though! #totallyworthit
Working as a shop mechanic, we’d typically go through a Park magnetic cable tool kit a week, the shop owner got grumpy at the expense so three weeks of the month we’d resort to using a vacuum cleaner to suck a piece of thread after you’d taped-off all the other holes in the frame.
"Cables are uncomplicated, inexpensive, maintainable and repairable at the side of the road or path, with minimal supplies (spare cables) and tools"
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cables.html
"Cables are uncomplicated, inexpensive, maintainable and repairable at the side of the road or path, with minimal supplies (spare cables) and tools"
Four hours to swap a set of handlebars says otherwise! 😂
I like to think having done it once I could probably get it down to a tight 1 hour, but the consequences of forgetting and pulling the wrong cable out are high!
Four hours to swap a set of handlebars says otherwise! 😂
That's a handlebar and frame issue, not the cables!